Who’s to the manners born? (From Bournemouth Echo)

Who’s to the manners born?

9:39am Friday 5th March 2010 in

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I HAVE my mum to thank for my (almost) impeccable manners.

I hold open doors for ladies, open the car door for my wife and always say please and thank you.

Indeed, if I wore a hat, I would doff it at every available opportunity.

Manners and courtesy should come easy, but stick people behind the wheel of a car and it’s a very different story.

I want you to visualise that I am now holding up my right arm, with my palm facing away from me, in a typical wave of greeting.

It’s a universal method of saying ‘hello’ or ‘thank you’ to people unable to hear a spoken salutation. Having visualised this act, please answer me one simple question.

What the hell is so difficult about that?

Because I am thoroughly fed up of having to deal with rude, ignorant and thoughtless drivers every day of my life.

When I let you into busy traffic from a side road or when two lanes of traffic meld into one, what is so difficult about using a few of your muscles to thank me for saving you a few frustrating minutes? Yes, there are drivers who find it a comfortable bit of exercise to raise a cheery hand to say ‘thanks’ for a spot of on-the-road courtesy.

But I’ll wager that there are a lot less of us around nowadays... and a lot more who appear incapable of showing the slightest gesture of appreciation on our roads.